And So It Goes
by CapeCodPhoenix
Summary: What happens when Rachel and Quinn run into each other years later. What things have changed? What things haven't? And what things are they hiding? Canon through season 3. *on hiatus*
1. Chapter 1

**So I probably shouldn't have been working on this when I have so many unfinished stories, but I couldn't just ignore the inspiration I had for this story. I'm working on updates for most of my stories that aren't on hiatus. So be patient with me.**

* * *

Rachel surveyed the contents of her car as she finished the last of her packing. It wasn't the life she'd envisioned for herself, but then she wouldn't trade her son for the world. She was thankful, for him, for her parents, for having made it to the city of her dreams, even if her dreams hadn't come true.

She went inside, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her son laughing. Her fathers loved spending time with Patrick and spoiling him rotten. It saddened her, that they had to leave, but she could only get so much time off of work, in fact, she was amazed that she'd been able to come home for the holidays at all.

"Come on Pattycakes, it's time to go," Rachel said.

Patrick pouted slightly, but otherwise made no arguments. Rachel knew her son was almost as dramatic as she was, but he knew when to make his dramatic side known, which was something Rachel had always had trouble with.

After saying their goodbyes and getting Patrick buckled snugly into his car seat, they were off to the big city.

It wasn't twenty minutes later that her car broke down, barely managing to pull the the side of the road. She cursed under her breath, hoping that the three year old couldn't hear her.

* * *

"Aunt Quinn," Ryan whined, "Can we come live with you in New York?"

Quinn laughed at her nephew. He hated Ohio as much as she did, but then, she only came back for special occasions, like Christmas.

"We can talk when you graduate high school," Quinn told the ten year old, "Until then, you'll have to tough out Ohio just like I did."

Ryan pouted, crossing his arms defiantly. "Aunt Quinn," the boy whined again.

"How about I talk to your mom about coming to visit?" Quinn appeased her nephew.

Ryan squealed in delight, running back into the living room to tell his brother that they were going to visit New York.

Quinn followed him in, laughing softly at his enthusiasm.

"Alright kids, time to head back," Quinn said.

Groans erupted from the room, and a frustrated five year old boy chucked the block in his hand against the ground, which bounced and hit his three year old sister in the eye.

"Logan Clayton Evans!" Quinn reprimanded the boy as she rushed to her daughter's side. The three year old had let out a high pitched scream, and let the tears fall from her eyes. Quinn pulled her into her arm, rocking her gently and whispering soothing words into her ear. When she calmed down, Quinn pulled back slightly.

"Lucy," Quinn said softly. "Lucy, baby, let mama see you eye."

Lucy slowly removed the hand that had been covering her eye, letting Quinn take a look at it. She was relieved to find that it hadn't actually hit her eye, but rather just outside of it. Not that it wasn't a big deal either way, but now Quinn wouldn't have to worry about her needed surgery or anything.

Quinn picked Lucy up, and walked over to her son.

"Logan," Quinn said sternly, but softly, "We do not throw things." Logan looked guilty. He hadn't meant to hit Lucy, but he didn't want to leave yet. "You need to apologize to your sister and we'll talk about it when we get home."

Logan apologized sincerely. He really was sorry. Not so much that he had thrown the block, but that it had hit his sister. He didn't want anything to happen to her. He didn't even fight going home, though he had originally planned to. He was going to be in big trouble when they got home, and he knew it. And worse then that, he had the trip to New York to think about it.

* * *

Rachel was under the hood of her car, trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened. She had no idea what was wrong, or what to do. She wanted a quick fix, because she couldn't really afford to take the car into the shop. She was about to give up and call her dads when she saw a vehicle pull off behind her car.

Somebody had stopped to help her. When the door to the other car opened, she looked up. She was shocked by the sight before her.

"Rachel?" Quinn asked upon seeing the brunette. "Rachel Berry? Is it really you?"

Quinn had always been jealous of Rachel. She had known that Rachel Berry would make something of herself, she would get out of Ohio and be somebody important in the world. She was actually surprised she hadn't heard of or from her since high school.

"Quinn?" Rachel asked. She wondered if she was dreaming, but then, she was in Lima, and it was just after the holidays, so it really shouldn't have been that surprising to see her. It should have been ore surprising that she had stopped, but for some reason, Rachel just couldn't seem to think this was real.

Quinn smiled at the recognition. "It's so good to see you!" Quinn exclaimed, giving the brunette a hug.

Rachel was momentarily stunned before she returned the hug, "It's good to see you, too."

Patrick decided he didn't like that woman he didn't know getting that close to his mother, so he decided to get her attention. He opened his mouth and screamed, scowling at the world.

Quinn jumped, and looked back at her car, before realizing it wasn't either of her children who was crying. She was relieved and when she turned back to Rachel, Rachel was in the back seat fishing out a little boy.

"What's wrong Pattycakes?" Rachel asked.

Patrick just frowned, refusing to use his words. He put his arms around his mother and rested his head on her shoulder.

Rachel chuckled at the boy's antics.

When she emerged from the car holding Patrick, Quinn just stared. She hadn't expected Rachel to have a child, then again, she imagined that nobody expected her to have two children. Well, three if you counted Beth, but Quinn never got to see Beth.

"This is my son, Patrick," Rachel told Quinn. "Pattycakes, say hi to mommy's friend Quinn."

Patrick looked up at Quinn curiously, as if studying her, but quickly hid has face back in Rachel's shoulder.

Quinn just laughed. "Hi Patrick."

Rachel felt attempt to bury his head further into her.

"So..." Quinn wasn't really sure what to say. "What's up with your car?"

Rachel huffed in frustration. "I really don't know, it just died on me. And we really need to get home."

Quinn took a look at the engine, but after realizing that she didn't know the first thing about cars, she decided on another tactic.

"I don't know what to say about the car," Quinn said, "But I'd be happy to give you and Patrick a lift home."

"Oh no, Quinn, I couldn't have you do that, we live all the way in New York, I couldn't possibly ask you to drive us all the way there. But if you'd like to give me a lift back to my father's house, I suppose I could agree to that. I can see if I can borrow one of their cars and see if Burt can fix mine in the morning, though I really hate to leave either of my fathers carless, but I can't afford to take more time off of work."

"Rach," Quinn cut her off, "As much as I've missed you and your rambling, it's not a problem. We live in New York as well, and I'd be more than happy to take you and Patrick home. I could use some adult company, and I'm sure that Lucy and Logan would love to meet Patrick."

Rachel's head was spinning. "You missed me?"

Quinn laughed, "Of everything I said, that's what you pick up on? Of course I missed you, Rach."

Rachel smiled, "Alright, who are Lucy and Logan? And how long have you been living in New York without telling me?"

"Lucy and Logan are my children. Lucy's three and Logan's five. And we moved to New York about two years ago."

Rachel was doing the math in her head. If Logan was five, then Quinn must have had him her freshman year.

Quinn knew that Rachel was doing the math. "I know what you're thinking and it's not like that. Let me drive you and Patrick home. I'll give you my number, and when you have time, we can catch up."

Rachel wasn't really sure what had happened between her and Quinn. Sure, they had had their differences in high school, but they had become close friends by the time graduation came. She knew she couldn't put it all on the blonde, of course, the phone works both ways.

Rachel nodded her acceptance to Quinn.

"I missed you, too, by the way," Rachel said shyly. Quinn beamed in response.

"Come on," Quinn said, grabbing Rachel by her free hand. Rachel didn't put up a fight as Quinn dragged her, and by extension, Patrick, to her car. Rachel didn't see the make or model of her car, but it was big. Most definitely an SUV, and relatively new as well. Rachel thought that Quinn must be pretty well off to afford a car like this with having two children. She wondered what type of job Quinn had, and if she was living her dreams, instead of having had to give them up like she had.

Quinn opened the back door, and popped her head in. "Lucy, Logan, there's some people here I want you to meet. They're going to be coming to New York with us."

Lucy made a squealing sound that sounded a lot like the ones Rachel used to make in high school.

Quinn pulled Rachel into view. "Rachel, Patrick, these are my children, Lucy and Logan. Kids, this is mama's friend Rachel and her son Patrick."

"Like from SpongeBob?" Logan asked excitedly.

Rachel cracked a smile. "Wait, are you talking about SpongeBob SquarePants?" Rachel laughed. She couldn't believe that that ridiculous show was still around, let alone that Quinn would let her children watch it. Rachel raised her eyebrow at Quinn, letting her disbelief be known.

Quinn just shrugged. "Like father, like son."

Patrick looked up at his mother. He really didn't know what was going on.

* * *

It didn't take long for Rachel and Quinn to transfer everything from Rachel's car into Quinn's SUV. Patrick's carseat was placed in between Lucy's carseat and Logan's booster seat, and the three kids seemed to get along really well. Rachel had called her father's and asked them to make sure that her car got to Burt's shop alright, and she had called Burt to let him know that it was coming. It was nice that after everything that had happened, Burt and Carole still had her back.

A few hours into the trip, all three kids had fallen asleep, and Rachel thought it was the perfect opportunity to actually talk to Quinn.

"So, you got married?" Rachel asked, once again noticing the wedding band on Quinn's finger.

Quinn sighed. She didn't really want to talk about all this with her kids in the car. On some level, she knew she would because she had that sinking feeling that Rachel wouldn't relent until she got answers. It had always been her way.

"Rach, I really don't want to discuss the intricacies of my life with my kids in the backseat."

Rachel huffed, "They're all sound asleep, and we can change the subject if they wake up. It's just going to be awkward if we don't talk about it because we'll have nothing to talk about for the entire trip to New York."

Quinn relented as she knew she would. Rachel was right. It would be terribly awkward to not talk to each other, and she knew this was where they needed to start. She wasn't quite ready yet, though.

"Fine, but we're talking about you first."

Rachel knew that this was an attempt to deflect from herself. Quinn was undoubtedly hoping that the kids would wake up before the conversation turned back to her. Well Rachel didn't know about Lucy and Logan, but Patrick was a sound sleeper, and he liked his naps.

"Okay," Rachel agreed.

"Did you and Finn..." Quinn started to say. She wasn't sure if she wanted to ask if they were married, if they split up, or if Patrick was Finn's child, though she was pretty sure he was.

"Finn and I never got married," Rachel told her, "Finn got a few days to come home during his first tour. We had an amazing weekend together, but then he had to go back to Iraq. He was killed two weeks later, saving the life of one of the soldiers in his platoon."

Quinn wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't even heard that Finn had died. God, she felt horrible. She should have paid her condolences to Rachel and Carole and Burt and Kurt, but she hadn't known.

"I'm so sorry," Quinn said softly, "I – I didn't know."

"It's okay," Rachel said. It wasn't, but yet it was. Rachel understood that Quinn hadn't heard. She supposed she didn't come home much, certainly not when it had happened. She wasn't really okay with him being gone, but there wasn't anything that she could do about it. She was proud of him for saving the other guy. Michaels. The guy had had three children, and because of Finn he had been able to live to see them another day. He and his family kept in touch. They always offered whatever they could to her, though she never accepted any of it. It wasn't Finn's fault that he had died. He had done the noble thing. He hadn't known he was going to be a father.

"It wasn't until a month or so later that I realized I was pregnant. At that point I had already pretty much failed out of NYADA. I hadn't coped well with the news of his death, but when I found out I was pregnant, I picked myself off the floor. I knew that I had to do my best for Patrick. Now he's my whole world. I don't get to spend as much time with him as I'd like to because I have to work so much to keep the apartment and food and bills, but he always comes first in one way or another. He's the only thing I have left of Finn. He's ours and he's perfect and I wish that Finn could be here to see him, but I know that he's looking down on us, watching over us, keeping us safe from afar."

Quinn sympathized with Rachel. But she understood that Patrick was her whole world. It made sense in a lot of ways, but mostly she understood because Lucy and Logan were her whole world as well.

Rachel sighed. "We hadn't gotten married yet, when he died. We had been engaged, again, when he had come back from boot camp, he had proposed again, and of course I had said yes. It had been what I had been waiting for. We were going to get married after I had graduated, and when he had finished his tour. But obviously we never got that far."

"He would be so proud of you Rach," Quinn said sincerely, "He'd be so proud of you and the wonderful job you're doing raising your son."

Rachel smiled, "He makes that same face Finn made when he was thinking."

Quinn couldn't help but laugh, "I hope he got your brains."

Rachel laughed, and both girls were glad at the lighter atmosphere in the car. It was Quinn's turn now.

Quinn sighed, "I met Clay at freshman orientation. He was older, not like old, old or anything, he was twenty-one. Anyway, Clay and I hit it off really well, not in like a romantic sort of way, but we just got along great. We became really close, and he was one of my best friends. Definitely my best friend at Yale. I met his pregnant wife Lucy, and we became close as well. I got to be there when Logan was born."

"So Logan's not yours?" Rachel clarified.

"Just listen, alright?" Quinn asked.

Rachel nodded, biting her lip.

"Clay was really well off. He had grown up with a wealthy family, as had Lucy. They both had big fat inheritances and trust funds and everything. Clay was lined up to run his family business. Neither of them needed to go to college. They could live a comfortable life just coasting on their money and even send Logan to top notch colleges, but they didn't want that. They wanted to make something of themselves, and do something with their lives, so after a few years of just exploring the world, they both decided to go to college, and that's how I met them. Well the three, well four if you count Logan, of us were inseparable. Kinda like the unholy trinity again. And when Lucy got pregnant again, I was there for both of them. In her third trimester, Clay was diagnosed with cancer. It hit us all really hard, but Lucy was torn up about it. It just got worse from there. The treatments weren't getting rid of the cancer. They only slowed the spread of it. And then Lucy died during childbirth, so little Lucy was named after her mother. The stress of losing Lucy and having a second child and having cancer wasn't helping Clay. I stuck by his side though. He was my best friend. I'd have done anything for him. It was pretty clear to both of us though, that Clay wasn't getting better, and he was scared to death about what would happen to his children. I mean, you would be too right? He was sure that someone in his family would get custody of them, and he didn't want that. He loved his family, but they weren't nurturing, and Logan and Lucy barely ever saw them. He needed his kids to be with someone they loved, someone who loved them. So one day, he got down on one knee and proposed. It shocked me at first. For a moment, I thought he was crazy. I didn't feel that way about him. But after a moment, he explained why he wanted to marry me, and it made sense. He wanted me to raise Lucy and Logan. I was so involved in their lives already, that it just made sense. So we got married about a month later. And I adopted Lucy and Logan. It all went through smoothly. We graduated and moved to New York, and a few months later, he was gone. He left me everything. All his inheritance, his trusts, and Lucy's too."

Rachel wasn't sure what to say to all of that. It was a lot to process. It was more than she'd gone through.

"Rach?" Quinn asked hesitantly.

"You always were resilient Quinn. You've always had a heart of gold. I've known that for years, even when you hated me, I knew you had an amazing heart. I'm so happy to have been proven right, though I'm truly sorry for the tragic events that have happened."

"You have a knack for seeing the best in people, Rach. You were a big part of my resilience in high school. Even when I was at my worst, you saw the best in me."

After that, they had both become more relaxed. The kids had stayed asleep for a few more hours, and Rachel and Quinn had talked about everything. Rachel had told Quinn about the boy Brody, who had hit on her the first time they'd met in freshman year, and then again shortly after Finn had passed away. Quinn told Rachel the story about the first time she'd seen Clay's parents after they'd gotten married. Suffice to say, they were none too thrilled about it.

They were almost in Harrisburg when Lucy woke up, and Quinn decided to stop there for food, and because she desperately needed to use the bathroom at this point. All the stories she and Rachel were sharing had helped keep her mind off of it, but she was sure the kids would be hungry when they woke up as well.

Quinn pulled into a place called Cafe Fresco. She had been there before, so she knew it had good food. She wasn't worried about Rachel not being able to find something, since Rachel had told her that with her budget, she couldn't really afford a vegan lifestyle anymore, so she had settled for vegetarian. Lucy, bless her soul, would eat just about anything, and Logan would be content with a pepperoni pizza. She hoped that Patrick wasn't picky, but then, being the son of Rachel and Finn, he probably was.

Quinn gave her keys to the valet, and she and Rachel got the kids out of the car. Quinn held Lucy on her hip, her free hand holding Logan's. Rachel held Patrick on her hip, and smiled when Logan held his hand up for her to hold as well.

One look at the menu and Rachel started to protest.

"Quinn, this is way too expensive!"

"Don't worry about it Rachel, I got it covered."

Quinn hoped Rachel wouldn't put up too much of a fight. It was her treat, and she wasn't about to let the diva take that away from her.

"But Quinn," Rachel started again.

"Rach, listen to me. This is a great restaurant. The food here is well worth the money, and it's the least I can do after everything that's happened between us."

Rachel relented, not because she wanted to, but because she knew she wasn't going to win this. She couldn't afford this restaurant, so she couldn't pay for her and Patrick, and Quinn obviously wasn't going to change the restaurant, so she was stuck anyway.

"Fine," Rachel huffed.

Rachel had to admit, she was really impressed with the Fresco Chop Salad that she had ordered. Even Patrick was enjoying his dinner, which, granted, was only a cheese pizza, but still. Rachel had shocked Quinn when she had stolen a bite of her pork meatballs, and herself when she had found that she actually liked them. So much for being a vegetarian, but she figured, now she had to do what she had to do to get by, though she'd really only done it for the look on Quinn's face. It had been priceless.

It didn't take long for Quinn to pay the bill and get back on the road. Quinn put on a DVD for the kids, and by the end of the movie, they had all fallen asleep once again.

"I have to admit, I was surprised when you told me your daughter's name was Lucy. I didn't think you liked that name," Rachel said when she was sure the kids were sleeping soundly.

"I have nothing against the name," Quinn answered honestly, "I didn't like the person I was when I was Lucy. Admittedly, I wasn't the best person when I started going by Quinn, but I liked myself better as Quinn than I did as Lucy. And when I officially changed my name, I decided I was going to be a person I was proud of, and for the most part I have been. I changed my name to Quinn Taylor Fabray the summer before college, and I've been Quinn Taylor Evans for a few years now."

Rachel chuckled at the name. She couldn't help but picture Quinn and Sam when she said her last name was Evans.

"What's so funny?" Quinn asked, genuinely not understanding why Rachel was asking.

"Evans?" Rachel said still chuckling.

"Yeah, I don't get it."

"Did Clay get down on one knee when he proposed?" Rachel asked, knowing that the poor boy probably had.

"Yeah. Why?" Quinn had no idea where Rachel was going with this.

"Do you remember another Evans who got down on one knee for you?"

It was like a lightbulb went off in Quinn's head. The look of realization on Quinn's face was just too much for Rachel to take, and she started laughing hysterically.

"I can't believe you never thought of that," Rachel laughed.

Rachel's laughter made Logan stir.

"Mama, are we home yet?" Logan said sleepily, wiping his eyes.

"Not yet, honey, go back to sleep," Quinn replied.

Logan nodded, and within a couple minutes he was asleep once again.

"God," Quinn said, "Now this feels really weird."

About an hour later, Quinn pulled up outside of Rachel's apartment. Rachel took the kids upstairs while Quinn made quick work of bringing all Rachel and Patrick's bags up to the third floor where they lived.

"You'll keep in touch, right?" Rachel asked when Quinn was preparing to leave, back to her own apartment.

"Of course," Quinn responded, "You can't get rid of me that easy."

Rachel beamed at her. It would be nice having a friend in the area.


	2. Chapter 2

Seeing Quinn had stirred something in Rachel. She supposed it was nostalgia. Something about the days where her whole future was in front of her, and she could see nothing but stars in it. She couldn't help herself from looking into Quinn and the others from her high school days, googling anybody and everybody she could remember.

Quinn's story rang true, Rachel finding records of her marriage, her graduation from Yale, the deaths of Lucy and Clay, the births of Lucy and Logan, Quinn's official change of name. It wasn't that Rachel had thought she hadn't been telling the truth, but she had had a feeling that Quinn was hiding something. Her thorough internet search, though, didn't turn up much that Quinn hadn't mentioned. And that which she hadn't sounded like stuff they just hadn't gotten around to talking about. Like the fact that Quinn was working at a publishing company. Rachel had a feeling that she wasn't a big shot editor yet, but that she was well on her way to becoming one.

After Quinn, Rachel had gone on to googling the rest of the glee club, as well as other people she remembered. She was pleasantly surprised by what she had found.

Santana and Brittany were living near Boston. Santana was listed as being at the top of her class thus far in Harvard Law School, and though she hadn't graduated yet, Rachel had read several articles listing her as one of Boston's up and coming lawyers. She hadn't been involved in too many cases yet, after all she was still in law school, but through her various internships, she had had a few clients. So far, her success rate was one hundred percent. Brittany was a renowned choreographer. That really wasn't surprising. The girl had always been able to dance, and she and Mike had choreographed all the good numbers in glee.

Kurt now had his own designer line of clothing, Mercedes had just signed a record deal, Mike and Tina had just gotten engaged. Mike was also a choreographer (again, not a surprise). Tina had made it to Broadway. It wasn't a starring role, in fact it was a rather small role, but she had made it nonetheless. Sam had landed a full ride to UCLA on a football scholarship and had actually been drafted into the NFL. Rachel read that the first thing he had done with his first NFL paycheck was buy his parents a home like he had said he would do in high school. Noah had formed a Rock Band, which Rachel was surprised to find out she actually had heard of. Blaine was an actor who had recently landed a recurring role in a television series. Dave Karofsky had made his dream of becoming a sports agent come true, and Jacob Ben Israel ran a wildly successful tabloid.

While Rachel was genuinely happy for everyone and their success, she couldn't help but feel utterly disappointed in herself. If you had asked anyone back then who would make something of themselves, they all would have said Rachel Berry. Now she felt as if she were the only one she knew from McKinley who hadn't made something of themselves. God, even Finn had died a hero.

* * *

After getting Lucy and Logan to bed, Quinn made her way to her own. She lay there thinking about the day and everything that had happened, processing all the information that she'd learned.

Quinn couldn't believe that Finn was dead. He might not have been the brightest bulb, but his intentions had been good. Sure, he couldn't remember things like she was allergic to watermelon or that Rachel was vegan, but he had always tried.

And poor Rachel. She technically wasn't a widow, after all they'd never been married, but they'd been engaged. And she had their child to consider. She'd probably not gotten a dime of support from the Army. Not that they could afford to give the support that they should considering the line of work it is, but Rachel probably hadn't gotten a penny to help raise their child without his income anymore.

And little Patrick, he would never know his father. I suppose, in a way, that was a connection with Finn, whose father had also died when he was young. At least Finn had died in an honorable way. Finn had saved someone's life, whereas his father had apparently overdosed on drugs.

Quinn wanted to help the diva. She knew that the girl's pride wouldn't allow her to help, but she was determined to help in some way. Maybe she could buy the building she lived in and just not charge her rent. It would give her another source of income as well from all the other tenants.

Quinn decided against that. The building was a bit run down. She'd rather buy another building and let Rachel move into that. Somewhere nicer. More comfortable. She'd be a much better landlord than whoever she had now anyway. Maybe she could convince Rachel to just move in with her. She had the room. Rachel could have the guest bedroom and Patrick could share a room with Logan.

Quinn sighed realizing that she'd have to run anything she might want to do by Rachel first. She'd never imagined their lives would be like they are. At least Quinn was happy. She loved Lucy and Logan with everything she had. Sure she would have liked for Clay and Lucy to still be alive and raising them. They were great parents, and great friends, but she couldn't imagine the kids not being around her every day, off living with some relative of Clay's that didn't really give a shit. Thanks to them, she had the means to follow her dreams and raise them.

Rachel on the other hand, she wasn't so lucky. She didn't have the money to follow her dreams, she had to think about Patrick. It was clear though, that the brunette didn't mind giving up her dreams for her son. She loved him unconditionally, and that was good. But Rachel had been born to be a star, and she had endured so much, she deserved to have her dreams come true.

Quinn resolved to help her that way. To do whatever it took to make Rachel's dream of becoming a Broadway star come true. Well short of paying somebody off. Rachel was going to make it on her own, she just needed a little help at home so she could wow whoever it was she needed to. Rachel Berry was going to be a star. She'd known that since they'd first met. She had the drive and the talent, and Quinn was going to do whatever she needed to so that Rachel could get back into the world of Broadway.

* * *

"Bye Pattycakes. Mommy will be back after work," Rachel said.

Patrick pouted. He hated his babysitter. She wasn't fun like his mommy was. She wasn't horrible, but all he was allowed to do was nap and watch TV. She didn't play games with him like his mommy did.

"I love you," Rachel told him, kissing him on the forehead.

"Wuv you, mommy," Patrick said, still sulking.

She smiled sadly at him. She knew his babysitter wasn't his favorite person, but she was the only good person that she could afford.

* * *

Quinn smiled as she opened the door to reveal the rest of the Unholy Trinity.

Santana had texted her late last night, letting her know that she and Brittany were in town for a few days. They'd offered to babysit Logan and Lucy while she was at work, so they didn't have to wake up early and go to the office daycare program.

"Q," Santana said, obviously trying to hold back the smile on her face (and failing). There had always been something special about Quinn and Brittany where Santana had a hard time keeping on her poker face.

"S," Quinn said, keeping her face schooled a lot better than Santana.

"Q!" Brittany said, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Hey, B," Quinn said, pulling the other blonde into a hug. "I missed you guys."

"We missed you, too," Brittany said.

"I hate to run, but I'm running late," Quinn said, "But how about I cook tonight and we can catch up?"

"Sounds good, Q," Santana said, "If your parents did anything right it was teaching you to cook," she joked.

Quinn rolled her eyes. She went into her kids rooms, kissing them on the forehead and whispering that she loved them, before coming out to give Santana a hug.

"I'm glad you're here. I'll see you when I get home."

And then she was out the door.

* * *

Rachel was surprised that she had a text from an unknown number when she checked her phone on her break. She never really expected anything, but she always checked in case something had happened with Patrick.

She opened the text

_Hey, it's Quinn. I hope you don't mind that I swiped your number. I'm having a little dinner get together tonight and I'd love it if you and Patrick could join us. Let me know :)_

Rachel didn't even realize that she was smiling. It was so thoughtful of Quinn to invite her and Patrick. And it had been thoughtless of Rachel to not have asked for Quinn's number, but she supposed it had all worked out. And now she had her number anyway.

Rachel quickly saved Quinn's number in her phone before typing out a reply confirming her and Patrick's attendance and asking for the address and suitable attire. She inhaled her tea, and couldn't help but to think that today would be a good day.

* * *

Quinn smiled at Rachel's response. It was just like her to ask what she should wear. She quickly replied to Rachel with her address, telling her that dinner would be around seven and that it was just a casual dinner, so she didn't need to wear anything special.

Quinn sipped her coffee, reveling in the caffeine, before returning her attention to the computer in front of her.

Her office phone rang and she sighed, wondering what flavor of coffee her boss wanted today.

"Kevin Goldman's office Quinn Evans speaking," Quinn answered as she always did.

Quinn's face froze as she heard the woman on the other end of the line telling her that she was wanted in Mr. Phillips office in five minutes.

"O-of course," Quinn stuttered, before hanging up.

Mr. Phillips was one of the owners of the publishing firm that she worked at, and the only people who ever got called up to see him (at least at her level) were there to either be fired or promoted. She prayed it was the latter.

Quinn made her way quickly to the elevators; she wiped some sweat from her brow as she pushed the button for the thirty-second floor.

God, what if she was getting fired. She supposed it wouldn't be _that_ big of a deal because thanks to Clay she really had enough money to live off of and support the kids, but she wanted to work in this line of business. She wanted to become an editor, and maybe eventually be a published author. She supposed she would be able to spend more time with the kids, but then she spent a lot of time with them as it was. Any free time she had she spent with them. She took days off to just play with them and be with them. And she wanted to set the example that they shouldn't just slide by on the money that they would have, that they should dream and make those dreams come true. That it was worth the work and effort you had to put in to chase your dreams. She was, in a way, a lot like Clay and Lucy. She didn't want to live on the money she now had just because she had it. She wanted to do something with her life. Something that Lucy and Logan would be proud of when they grew up.

The elevator door opened and she stepped out, she noticed the woman at the desk in the corner. She guessed it was her whom she had spoken with mere minutes ago on the phone. She told the woman she was here and took a seat in one of the chairs. Now she had to wait, and that made her nervous.


	3. Chapter 3

Everything seemed like a blur, no, like a dream. This couldn't be real life, could it? Quinn wasn't sure when she'd started making dinner, but it was in the middle of doing such a thing when she came back to reality from the numb state she'd been in most of the day.

She looked at the clock. It was six forty-seven. She looked down at what she was doing. Dinner was pretty much done. All she had left to make was the salad.

Quinn looked at the clock again as she finished putting dinner on the table. It was six fifty-two. Rachel would be there soon. As if on cue, she heard the intercom go off, signaling that somebody had buzzed her apartment.

"Santana," Quinn called to her best friend, "Can you set the table while I get that?"

Quinn didn't wait for the Latina to respond, instead she walked to the intercom system in her front hallway. She pressed the button allowing her to be heard and said "Come on up," before pressing another button allowing her visitors into the building.

A minute or so later, there was a knock on the door. Quinn opened the door to reveal Rachel and Patrick.

"Hey Patrick," Quinn addressed the boy.

"Kin!" Patrick squealed. He had taken a liking to the woman with the cool car that he could watch movies in. It was much more entertaining than his mother's car. He moved to hug the blonde, and the blonde hugged him back.

"Lucy and Logan are inside playing if you want to join them," Quinn told the three year old.

Patrick started shifting in his mother's arms, wanting to get down and play with his new friends. Rachel put Patrick down, straightening his shirt and telling him to play nice before letting him run into the apartment.

"Hey Rach," Quinn greeted the shorter girl, "I'm glad you and Patrick could make it."

"Well I assure you Quinn, we were happy to receive the invitation," Rachel responded.

Quinn's smile broadened, before faltering slightly, realizing that she had forgotten to mention that Santana and Brittany were there.

"I, uh, I should mention that Santana and Brittany are here, too."

Rachel looked perplexed. "I thought they were in Boston?" Rachel questioned.

"They are," Quinn said, "I mean, they're here right now, but they live near Boston."

Quinn wasn't sure how the brunette knew that they lived in Boston, but she didn't question it for the moment. "They're visiting," Quinn finished.

Rachel nodded, "Well I'm glad," Rachel said, "It would be a shame if the unholy trinity had fallen apart, now wouldn't it?"

Quinn relaxed as Rachel entered the apartment.

"Hey, Q," Santana shouted through the apartment, "When did we get a third kid?"

Quinn couldn't help but laugh at Santana. It was just so…her.

Quinn led the way further into her apartment, finding Santana, Brittany and all three kids in the den. Quinn was about to tell Santana that Rachel was there, but Rachel made her presence clear all on her own.

"Patrick Finn Berry!" Rachel screeched at her son, whom Quinn noticed was not only missing most of his clothes (all that remained on the boy were his underwear and socks) but had in his hands a photo of Lucy and Clay that had been on one of the tables, and looked like he was about to throw it, only he had frozen at the sound of his full name from his mother's lips.

"Give me that," she said, taking the photo from Patrick and handing it apologetically to Quinn. "We do _not_ throw things Patrick," Rachel told the boy seriously, "We do not come into someone else's home and disrespect their things, and what happened to your clothes, mister?"

Patrick looked at Quinn, "Sowwy Kin," he told the blonde.

Quinn smiled down at the boy. She squatted so she was at his level, well she was still a bit taller, but she was close enough. She looked him in the eye, "Thank you for apologizing to me Patrick. You're forgiven, but don't do it again okay?" The little boy nodded solemnly, and Quinn hugged him, which made him smile again.

"Patrick," Rachel said again as soon as Quinn released him. The tone of her voice said she was not to be trifled with right now. "Where are your clothes?"

Patrick pointed to the couch where Rachel saw Brittany covered in her son's clothes, which had obviously been thrown in her direction.

"Brittany, I'm so sorry," Rachel apologized on behalf of her son. She collected the clothing from her and started redressing Patrick. "It's really good to see you again, though," She told Brittany, "and you too, Santana."

"Berry," Santana acknowledged, "I should've known the little brat was yours."

Rachel stood up, marching straight up to the Latina, getting in her face. "You do _not_ talk about _my son_ that way!"

Motherhood suited Rachel, at least that was Santana's second coherent thought with Rachel all up in her face.

"Rach," Quinn said.

"Relax," Santana said, pretending that Rachel wasn't scaring her, although, and she'd never admit this, she was quite scared for her life at the moment. You do not mess with a mother's child. "I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"Way to ruin the reunion, Satan," Quinn jibed at her best friend.

"Well maybe if you had actually told us we'd be seeing Berry tonight, I'd have been more prepared to…I don't know, tone down the bitch a little."

"Santana!" Rachel said, covering Patrick's ears.

"S, come on, there are children in the room," Quinn whined.

"Sorry," Santana said sincerely, "My filter still needs a little work."

Rachel relaxed a little, scooping her son into her arms. "Alright Pattycakes, if you're good for the rest of the night, you won't have to go to bed early."

Patrick beamed up at his mother, knowing he was getting off easy. He's glad they walked in before he actually had a chance to throw the picture because he knows now that he would be in a lot of trouble if he had actually broken something.

Rachel turns to face Santana who is now sitting on the couch in Brittany's arms. "Brittany, Santana, this is my son, Patrick."

"Hi Pattycakes!" Brittany said excitedly, having picked up on the nickname. Santana smiled sweetly at the boy. She'd never admit it but she had a soft spot for little kids, and she couldn't wait until she and Brittany had their own kids.

"Patrick, this is Brittany and Santana, they went to school with mommy and Quinn."

Patrick squirmed in Rachel's arms, having been intrigued by Brittany's bubbly personality.

* * *

"Quinn, I must thank you for having Patrick and I over for dinner. Patrick adores you already and this lasagna is absolutely divine."

Quinn smiled gently at the brunette, "I thought you'd appreciate it. It's vegan, you know?"

Santana, who was in the middle of her second helping, choked on her lasagna. "You're feeding me rabbit food?" she grunted after she swallowed the food in her mouth.

"Not only did I cook vegan," Quinn corrected Santana, "but I did it in such a way where you not only couldn't tell, but actually enjoyed it." Quinn was tempted to stick her tongue out at Santana, but felt that it would not be a good example to set for the children present.

"Te odio," Santana mumbled. Quinn was glad that Santana had taken to speaking in Spanish whenever she needed to say something inappropriate in front of her kids.

"It was very thoughtful of you Quinn, though I thought you'd realized that I am no longer vegan and you could have prepared a regular lasagna instead of going through all the trouble of making a vegan-friendly alternative," Rachel rambled.

Santana looked murderous at that new piece of information, though internally she conceded that the food was, in fact, delicious, despite apparently being a vegan dish. Not that she would willingly admit such a thing.

"I figured it out about the time you stole one of my meatballs," Quinn answered, "However, if I know you at all, if all else is the same, you'd still much prefer a vegan meal if given the option. Though I've been meaning to ask you when you started eating meat, more specifically pork."

"You eat pork?" Santana asked Rachel.

"You _knew_ she eats pork and yet you _still_ forced this rabbit food upon me?" Santana asked Quinn without waiting for a response from Rachel.

Quinn smirked, "Oh please, S, you were enjoying that lasagna more than my mother's."

"In answer to your question, Quinn, when you're pregnant, your body doesn't seem to care what your dietary preferences are, thus leading to several cravings from some crispy bacon. Though, I'm pretty sure that you already know that because I remember that one instance during sophomore year you begged me via text to get you some bacon during my free period. Granted, you've always had a soft spot for bacon. And I'll have you know that the meatball I stole from you yesterday was the first piece of meat I've eaten since Patrick was born, and the look upon your face when I ate it was totally worth it."

"You begged Berry to get you bacon?" Santana smirked.

"Q?" Brittany said, startling Quinn and Rachel. It wasn't that they'd forgotten she was there, but she hadn't spoken in a while.

"Yeah, B?"

"Are you and Rachel dating?" Brittany asked innocently.

This time it was Rachel who choked on her lasagna.

"What would make you think that?" Rachel asked.

"Well, Quinn was normal this morning, but she was all spacey when she came home, but then you showed up and she's back to normal.

Rachel turned to Quinn, unsure of how to respond to that. Of course, the obvious answer would have been "no" but now Rachel was intrigued as to what was going on inside Quinn's head.

Quinn on the other hand knew exactly why she had been spacing that afternoon, and it had nothing to do with Rachel.

"I had…an interesting day at work today." Quinn said. "And for the record, I snapped out of it while I was making dinner, not when Rachel showed up."

Brittany nodded, acknowledging Quinn's statement, but she knew better. She knew that Quinn had always felt something for the girl, even if she wasn't admitting it yet. And something just seemed different with them. She couldn't quite place what it was yet, but she was going to find out.

"So what happened at work that took your mind away from playing with your kids, Q?" Santana asked, genuinely curious. She knew that Quinn took every opportunity to be with Lucy and Logan, so her passing up the opportunity to play with them when she got home from work was out of character. She couldn't help but hope that Quinn had finally been offered a position as an editor instead of getting coffee all day for her jerk of a boss.

Quinn felt three sets of eyes on her.

"Well I…"

"I finished, Mama!" Logan said excitedly. "Can I go watch tv now?"

"Why don't you and Aunt Brittany pick out a movie and we'll all watch it," Quinn suggested. Logan clapped, and bounced to Brittany's side, trying to drag her into the other room. Quinn turned to Rachel. "Can you and Patrick stay for a movie, or do you have to get home?"

Rachel looked at her watch. They really should be heading home, but Patrick was enjoying his time, and she was definitely not complaining about catching up with the Unholy Trinity, though she'd have thought she wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as she did.

Quinn could see the gears churning in Rachel's head. She knew that look, she'd worn it herself many a time. It was the look when you're battling what you want with what you think you should do. Quinn wasn't sure when she stopped breathing, but when Rachel smiled and said that they could stay, Quinn let out a sigh of relief. She had been wondering if Rachel felt obligated to stay and really wanted to go home, but the smile on the girl's face told her otherwise, as well as the small frown that formed when she amended that they might have to leave before the movie ended in order to get Patrick home and in bed at a decent hour.

* * *

Quinn walked into the room holding a number of containers and spoons.

"Who wants ice cream?" Quinn asked.

The kids were all at her feet in a matter of seconds, causing the adults to laugh.

Quinn gave the kids each a Hoodsie cup and a spoon, looking to Rachel for permission before handing Patrick his. Rachel smiled at her, nodding her approval. Quinn threw a pint at Santana, who caught it easily, looked at it and smiled. "Rocky Road," she said, licking her lips. Brittany thanked Quinn for the pint of Moose Tracks she gave her. Quinn sat down on the couch next to Rachel and handed the brunette a pint of vegan strawberry ice cream before opening her own pint of vanilla bean.

"Quinn, thank you," Rachel said, "This was so thoughtful of you."

Quinn beamed in response, not saying anything with her mouth full of ice cream.

Logan and Brittany had picked out the movie _Pooh's Grand Adventure" The Search for Christopher Robin_. It had been one of Quinn's favorite movies when she had been a little girl, and Logan and Lucy had, in turn, come to love it as well.

A little way into the movie, Quinn said, "San, I need you to watch the kids tomorrow morning."

"Not that I mind watching the munchkins but I thought you had the day off tomorrow?" Santana answered.

Quinn smirked. "I did, but thanks to you, I have a meeting in the morning now."

"Me?" Santana questioned, "What did I do?"

Quinn arched her eyebrow.

"What?" Santana asked, truly perplexed as to what she had done.

Quinn just continued to look at her with her eyebrow raised.

"No! Really? That's great, Q!" Santana practically yelled when she understood what Quinn was saying. Everyone was now looking at Santana and Quinn. Patrick was pouting because she had interrupted the movie, which he had never seen before. The kids soon turned their attention back to the television, but Brittany and Rachel still looked on in confusion. What had just happened?

"Baby, what's going on?" Brittany finally asked.

"Britt, baby, remember a while ago, when we found that story that Quinn wrote?"

"The one about Rachel?" Brittany asked.

Rachel looked shocked. Had Quinn really written a story about her? Quinn on the other hand, was merely confused because she knew she'd never written anything about Rachel. Santana just brushed it off, "No, the one about the wanna-be chef."

Brittany blinked. That was the one she was talking about. It was clearly a metaphor for her wanting Rachel, how could they not see that?

"What about it?" Brittany asked.

"Well I submitted it to a number of publisher's for Quinn, and her company wants to publish it."

"Quinn, that's fantastic!" Rachel said.

* * *

Rachel and Patrick had ended up staying for the entire movie. Rachel left almost immediately after carrying a very tired Patrick in her arms. Quinn had tucked in her kids just after, who had drifted to sleep as their heads hit the pillows. Now it was just Quinn, Santana and Brittany.

Quinn was kind of dreading this. She had meant to tell them that Rachel would be joining them tonight, but with the news of being published, it had slipped her mind. And now she knew there would be questions.

"So when did you and the hobbit start hanging out?" Santana questioned when she returned to the living room.

"Yesterday, surprisingly enough."

"But, Q, weren't you driving yesterday?" Brittany asked, genuinely confused as to how they could have possibly started hanging out while she was making the eight hour journey from Ohio to New York.

"Yeah, um, I guess her car broke down on her way back from Lima, and I saw the broken down car, so I stopped to see if I could help. I didn't know it was Rachel when I pulled over."

"So, what happened?" Santana prodded.

"Not much. I offered her and Patrick a ride back to New York. We talked during the drive. Dropped them off at their apartment. Said we'd keep in touch. Went home. Invited her to dinner this afternoon. And you know the rest."

"And?" Santana asked, hoping there was more to the story than Quinn was letting on.

"And nothing. It was nice talking to her again. She's not nearly as annoying as she was in high school. In fact, she's good company. It'd be nice to have a friend in the city, and Patrick is Lucy's age, so they fit well together. We already know each other, so I figured I try to actually be friends with her."

"Whatever you need to believe," Brittany muttered to herself. She was slightly annoyed that Quinn was still in denial. Luckily Quinn didn't hear her, but Santana shot a curious look her way before moving on. She would ask Brittany about that later.

"Weren't you like bitter enemies?" Santana said, more to move the conversation along than anything else.

"No, at least not once we got to know each other. We were kind of friends senior year. Speaking of, did you guys know that Finn died?"

Brittany nodded. Santana, on the other hand, looked shocked.

"Pyramid nipples passed?" she said.

"Santana," Brittany admonished. She didn't like the nicknames Santana tended to give people, but she knew it was going to happen. She had accepted that. But, she needed to show some respect to the dead.

"Sorry, habit."


End file.
